A Weakened IRS Has Significant Consequences

Trump economics: His IRS budget cuts reduce federal spending by an estimated $46 billion over 10 years--but, oops, cost $643 billion in lost revenue. budgetlab.yale.edu/research/wea...

Viktor Orbán concedes defeat in historic Hungary election Hungarians turned out in historic numbers to vote against Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's and his Fidesz party. NPR's Rob Schmitz discusses with reporter Esme Nicholson and political scientist Abel Boja...

When did right-wingers get a monopoly on the word "populist"? Politicians who need to rig the electoral system--like Hungary's Victor Orban--are not populists (especially when they still end up losing). The correct word is "authoritarian" or "right-wing." www.npr.org/2026/04/12/n...

Death Trap Tales La Brea Tar Pits tell life-or-death true stories in a town hooked on make-believe.

"For scientists, the La Brea death trap matters because the animals entombed here, now mostly extinct, are remnants of a lost North America. Not long ago, big scary animals, both predator and prey, dominated the landscape." richardconniff.substack.com/p/tales-from...

"A wooden crate stands open, revealing what looks like a crude sculpture roughly five feet tall. It’s a tableau of death, a cataclysmic mix of blackened ankles, teeth, femurs and skulls jammed together ..." (Photo: Michael Christopher Brown) open.substack.com/pub/richardc...

Wildlife rule carve-out for Gulf oil industry risks extinctions, lawsuits allege Environmental groups sued the Trump administration over an exemption to endangered species rules for drilling.

Good to see lawsuits beginning to fly against the "God Squad" push to let species go extinct in the cause of oil industry profits. www.tampabay.com/news/environ...

Please Don't Visit Walden Pond Make your pilgrimage right where you live. For Thoreau, that was the whole point.

Henry David Thoreau did not want you to make a pilgrimage to his woods--but to become a pilgrim in your own woods. open.substack.com/pub/richardc...

With apologies to subscribers, I had to post early this week to cover a good story going off embargo today.

The Birth of a Sperm Whale Bringing a 4900-pound calf into the world takes a group effort, and then a party

It's a cetacean block party, plus cool new science on the highly social business of getting a sperm whale into the world (Photo: Brian Skerry/Nat Geo) open.substack.com/pub/richardc...

The Birth of a Sperm Whale Bringing a 4900-pound calf into the world takes a group effort, and then a party

It's a cetacean block party, plus cool new science on the highly social business of getting a sperm whale into the world (Photo: Brian Skerry/Nat Geo) open.substack.com/pub/richardc...

As is often the case with Donald Trump, the terrible things he says about others will later turn out to be most true about himself.

How to Make a Bird-Friendlier World Building new habitat doesn't have to mean dirt under your fingernails

Was just reading a 1934 description, at dawn, of the "swift up-flinging rush of quiet birds in circling flight" and realized we don't see this any more. Here's what you can do to bring them back. richardconniff.substack.com/p/lobbying-f...

Lessons from the Death of Our Last Outdoor Cat Keeping cats indoors is the best way to protect birds--and cats, too.

Letting house cats outdoors may be easier for humans. But it means turning a subsidized killer loose on local wildlife. Sooner or later, wildlife returns the favor. open.substack.com/pub/richardc...

American Wildlife Wants You in the Garden In the fight against the Great Vanishing, every backyard and window box counts

The fight to save species starts in your own backyard. richardconniff.substack.com/p/american-w...

Florida argues fired state parks employee who leaked plans isn’t a whistleblower A judge dismissed James Gaddis’ complaint, but allowed his lawyers to refile it.

Florida Gov. DeSantis’s secret plan to convert state park lands to golf courses & hotels got leaked and led to mass protests. He backed down. Then he fired the state worker who leaked the news. Now a judge has ruled the fired worker wasn’t a whistleblower. www.tampabay.com/news/environ...

In Praise of Being Useless Could that species benefit humans? Try not thinking about it for a change.

We think too much about how wildlife benefits humans. The opposite's what's needed. 🌿 open.substack.com/pub/richardc...

In Praise of Being Useless Could that species benefit humans? Try not thinking about it for a change.

Thoughts for your unproductive weekend. richardconniff.substack.com/p/in-praise-...

No Kings As the president escalates his authoritarian power grab, the NO KINGS non-violent movement continues to rise stronger. We are united once again to remind the world: America has No Kings and the power ...

No Kings, but especially not this nitwit. Find your nearby March 28 protest here www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i...

Federal workers are "crooked" & "ruining the country," right? But this one saved us from a hideous disease that had been maiming & killing humans for 10,000 years. 🛟
open.substack.com/pub/richardc...

How Jeff Bezos Brought Down the Washington Post The Amazon founder bought the paper to save it. Instead, with a mass layoff, he’s forced it into severe decline.

I meant to include this link www.newyorker.com/news/annals-...

WaPo owner Jeff Bezos is vain about his physique. But Katharine Graham had bigger gonads & didn't go spineless just because some government jackass threatened to catch "her tit in a wringer." (Image: WSJ)

Measles continues to spread in the US, but with some letup As South Carolina's outbreak grows to 876 confirmed cases, vaccinations in the state surged in January. Cases have also been reported in two ICE detention facilities.

Good news from the #SouthCarolina outbreak: #measles vaccinations up 162% at the epicenter & 72% statewide. People know #VaccinesWork even if RFK Jr. doesn't. www.npr.org/2026/02/05/n...

Down the Rabbit Hole with Our Least Known Kin Your cousins are fungi, and the survival of life on Earth depends on them.

Meet your cousins. They are everywhere, and have a hand in almost everything. 🌿🐙📷 open.substack.com/pub/richardc...

Sorry, just saw this. But I didn't know.

Plenty of potential #bison habitat out there, if we just let them at it. New study from WCS, Panthera Cats, Re: Wild, et al. act-green.org

Cave mummies discovery could lead to restoring one of the most beautiful animals on Earth to lost habitat. 🌿 richardconniff.substack.com/p/cave-cheet...

Slavery, Bird-Stuffing, & Nature: Truth or Fiction? Charles Waterton was a crackpot, or worse--& a pioneering voice for protecting nature.

@richardconniff.bsky.social's bizarre life and work of Charles Waterton, pioneer of taxidermy—and let's not forget his bitter feud with John James Audubon over whether North American vultures hunted by sight or smell. Also, you'll never guess what this strange humanoid figure is made from

You may hate hunting but it played a key role 60,000 years ago in shaping the modern human mind. Poison arrows are the clue. richardconniff.substack.com/p/how-huntin...

Hey, @asyousow.bsky.social, you need to get fossilfreefunds.com back online now. It's ridiculous to be upgrading for days or weeks, especially when people are thinking about these investing decisions at the start of the New Year.

January 6: A Date Which Will Live in Infamy Discover the real January 6 story: peaceful protest turned tragedy, Deep State entrapment, media deception, and President Trump's triumphant pardons restoring justice to patriotic Americans.

Even as they lie about the killing of Renee Good, the Trump White House website is pretending Ashlii Babbit, shot while literally storming Congress, is a martyr. www.whitehouse.gov/j6/?mc_cid=9...

Strange creatures, from an even stranger character in the history of exploration. richardconniff.substack.com/p/slavery-bi...